Accordion folding door



Dec. 25, 1951 DIXON, JR I 2,579,910

ACCORDION FOLDING DOOR Filed July 12, 1950 2 SHEETS-SHEET l 77 Fig. 2

Fig =Z 54 48 32 4a 5 2,4 64 82 l0 l7 l I l M l 1| I 1| I j 56 60 56 70 54 55 70 56 2 3.9 I

B 5 lg 46 1 36 ,/36 36 A Lg I ,10 4,? if I 58 39 5a 74 72 5a 74 72; 5a 72 Guy E. Dixon, Jr.

INVENTOR. BY @Mwah Dec. 25, 1951 ,G. E. DIXON, JR 2,579,910

ACCORDION FOLDING DOOR Filed July 12, 1950 2 SHEETSSHEET 2 2 54 52 a 0 a \\X\/5 W i I I 68 24m m I I n\/\ w A a 34 86 I @zg 30 2830 4% 1/ 65 I X u 1 96 I U mmu 64 0|; Guy 1:. Dixon, J1:

INVENTOR.

ig 5 BY Patented Dec. 25, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

This invention relates generally to doors and more particularly to :a door comprised of vertical panels foldable in accordion fashion, together with mounting means therefor.

A primary object of this invention is to provide a folding door which will not sag and which will maintain an attractive appearance, when fully extended, partially extended or completely collapsed, the invention including special means to maintain thepanels in two vertical positions at all times.

Another object of this invention is to provide a folding door which is easily opened and closed, and in which the spacing of the panels and the edge portions thereof is regular, so that the door has a' more attractive appearance when partially closed.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a folding door inw-hich the panels may be uniform and many of the other parts of the door and the mounting means therefor are also uniform and interchangeable, thus decreasing not only the original task of the installation but also facilitating repair whenever necessary.

A last object to. be mentioned specifically is to provide a device of this character which is relatively inexpensive and practicable to manufacture, which is simple and safe as well as convenient to'operate and which will give generally eiiicient and durable service.

With these objects definitely in view, this inventionresides incertain novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of elements and portions as will be hereinafter described in detail in the specification, particularly pointed out in the appended claim, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings which form a material part of this application, and in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a complete door assembly;

Figure 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 2--2 in Figure 1;

Figure \3 is a view of the structure, viewed as from the same line as 2-2, but showing the door in completely collapsed or open position;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view, on an enlarged scale, taken on the line 4-4 in Figure 3;

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary detail view. horizontal vertical section in character, taken on the line 5--5 in Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 6-45 in Figure l; Figure? is a similar horizontal sectional view taken on the line 'i-l in Figure 1; and

' ment including a doorway or the like in which the vertical stiles of the doorway are indicated at lil. Overhead structure of the doorway will ordinarily include a header or-beam l2 and may also include an overhead plate I4, ordinarily of wood, another layer It of wood or plaster, a plaster stop is provided in duplicate, it being understood that the specific construction of the doorway or archway is relatively immaterial in this application for patent.

A track 20 will in all cases be provided and thistrack 20 is illustrated as disposed between the plaster stops l8, the track having depending lateral wall portions 22 terminating in outwardly extendin flanges 24 which are secured to the plaster stops and to the beam I 2, or analogous structure, by means of the screws 26. The track is at least substantially co-extensive with the width of the door opening. The track has a pair of opposed inwardly extending flanges 28, the inner terminals thereof being turned upwardly and the upper surfaces thereof being longitudinally grooved to comprise a pair of trackways 30.

A plurality of vertical inflexible panels 32, preferably constructed of wood or the like and of equal length, comprise the main portions of the door. Each panel 32 is provided, on each vertical edge portion thereof with a slot 34- extending the full or substantially the full length of each panel and being somewhat key-hole shaped in crosssection, the inner end of the slot being enlarged as will be clearly understood from an inspection of Figure 6. The panels 32 are connected together hingedly by a plurality of strips 36 of flexible material such as woven fabric or plastic, the vertical edge portions of each strip being enlarged as indicated at 38 to fit snugly within the enlarged inner end portions of the slots 34. The end portions of the strips 36 are coated with a substance such as flexible glue which makes the end portions of the strips which are exposed more resistant to wear and unravelling when fabric is used, while the portions within the slots are adhesively secured therein. The addition of the said substance to the ends of the strips is:

diagrammatically indicated at 39in Figure 1.

The strip 36 at one side of the door assembly is, as best indicated in Figure 7, secured to the stile ill by means of a simple elongated bracket 40 having a substantially semi-circular flange 44' extending along one edge of the bracket to receive the bead 38 or enlargement on the corresponding ends of the strip 36, this bracket 40 being secured by screws 42. At the opposite side of the door assembly, the outermost panel 32 is provided with an elongated bumper or stop Mi, illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, this stop being ordinarily comprised of rubber or another resilient substance and having a reduced neck portion to fit within the corresponding slot 34 and an enlarged inner edge portion to fit within the enlargement in the slot 34 thus holding the stop or bumper 45 in place.

Each panel 32 is supported by means of an elongated screw 58 which is inserted into the upper edge portion of each panel and extends upwardly beyond the same for pivotal engagement with an axle member 50. This axle member extends transversely of the headed upper end portion of the screw 48 and carries a pair of rollers 52 which are freely rotatably mounted on journal portions 54 at the ends of the axle member 56, these rollers 52 being dimensioned and otherwise adapted to roll within the trackways 30 of the track 29.

An elongated plate 56 On the top of each panel 32 and a similar elongated plate 58 on the bottom of each panel 32 are secured by screws 69, and these plates 58 and 58 move at all times with the panels 32. The plates 56 and 58 are provided with terminal portions 62 offset from the longitudinal axes of the plates, in opposite directions, and these terminals 62 are apertured to receive pivot pins 64 having annular grooves 66 to receive split washers 63. A plurality of elongated bars 70 at the top of the door and 72 at the bottom of the door are pivoted at their center points to the central points of the corresponding plates 55 and 58, by means of shank portions of the screws 48, in the case of the upper plate 59 and bars 70, and by simple pivot pins 74, in the case of the lower plate 58 and bars 12. The ends of the bars ill and 72 are offset from the longitudinal axes of the bars, in opposite directions, similarly to the offsetterminals 62 of the plates 55 and 58, and the pivot pins (it connect to the apertured ends of the bars 70 and 72 with the said terminals 62.

The screws 43 are undercut intermediate their lengths to receive washers 76 which limit the entrance of the screws into the tops of the panels 32. These washers 76 being disposed on the underside of the top plates 56, and other washers 78 are interposed between the top plates 56 and the corresponding bars 79. The screws 69 aid in supporting the panels 32, since they cooperate with the plates 56. and split washers 76, these washers 16 being sufficiently sturdy to carry considerable weight. Similar washers, also numbered 76 in the drawings, are inserted on the simple pivot pins I i between the lower plates 58 and the corresponding bars 72.

At what may be considered the outer end of the door assembly, disposed to the left in Figures 1 2 and 3 as comprised of angle plates whereof the vertical flanges 84 are secured to the corresponding stile H) by screws 86, while the horizontal flanges are provided with opposing elongated slots 88 to receive sliding terminal elements 62' which may be, as indicated by the reference numerals, pivot pins 64, with a suitable complement of washers if necessary. The central portions of the horizontal flanges of the angle attachment plate 82 will be recessed, as indicated at 99, to receivethe adjacent screws 48 and pivot pins 74 when the door is fully collapsed or opened.

The operation of this invention will be clearly understood from a consideration of the. foregoing description of the mechanical details thereof, taken in connection with the drawings and with the above recited objects of this invention.

In recapitulation, it may be noted that the main weight of the door will be borne by the track 2!), while the lazy-tong systems comprised of the plates 56 and 5B and bars 10 and 12 prevent misalignment of the panels 32. It will also now be clear, in the light of the foregoing description, that the folding door assembly is easily mounted in place, easily operated, attractive in appearance and generally qualified to amply achieve the above recited objects. Further description is apparently unnecessary.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

A folding door comprising a plurality of inflexiole vertical panels having vertical slots in and substantially coextensive with vertical edge portions of said panels, said slots having their inner ends enlarged, strips of flexible material substantially coextensive with said slots and having their vertical edge portions enlarged and adhesively secured in the enlarged inner ends of said slots, said strips connecting the panels in series, a horizontal track above said panels, rollers supported on said track and having axle mem-- bers connected to and. supporting said panels, ,a lazy-tong system between said track and the up per ends of said panels, another similar system at the bottom of the door, each system including similar elongated plates secured to the ends of the panels, bars equal in length to said plates and pivoted at their center points to the center points of said plates, said plates and bars hav ing pivotally connected terminals offset from the longitudinal axes of the plates and bars sothat said panels can collapse into parallel relation when the door is fully opened, an attaching plate for each of said systems, said plates having slots, one of said plates and one of said bars in each of said systems having terminal elements pivotally and slidably mounted in said slots,

GUY E. DIXON. JR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 799,398 McMullen Sept. 12, 1905 1,351,229 Bombelli Aug. 31, 1920 1,697,277 Hoopes Jan. 1, 1929 2,109,882 Tamsitt Nov. 30, 1937 2,210,652 Dennett Aug. 6, v194:0

FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country- Date 2,711 Great Britain 1857 459,931 Great, Britain Jan. 19, 1937 

